RMTC Year End Winners

Well here we are at the end of the Rocky Mountain Turf Club Fall Meet - and the 2015 season for that matter.

In the unofficial results, somewhat of a surprise was the fact that Trevor Simpson wound up as the fall meet leading rider. Trevor went into the final two day two wins ahead of the spring meet lead rider, Larris Allen. And when the dust settled — with the winds the final weekend, there was plenty of dust — Trevor had 29 victories and Larris closed the meet with 27.

However, on the year, Larris takes the brass ring with 44 wins in the spring and 27 this fall for a total of 71 trips to the winner’s circle. Trevor, with his 29 this fall, adds 31 in the spring, for a total of 60, well back of the champion.

Some of the other riders making an impact this fall were Ramiro Sanchez Castillo, who could be called the king of the Quarter Horse riders. He recorded 18 victories while a strong final weekend propelled Neville Stephenson to 14 wins. Castillo rode 16 winners in the spring and with his 18 more in the fall, wound up with 34.

Also in double figures this fall was Blandford Stewart with 12.

As for the top horses, you can look at money or victories, and we’ll stick to victories. Smile Lee and She’s It Again both recorded their third wins without a loss to move into a tie with General Gabe, also with three wins in three starts this fall.

A slew of horses were two wins for two starts, including Careless Hunter, the speedy Toughie and Janice Sather’s tongue twister Cruisinforabrusin.

And speaking of trainer’s, Lyle Magnuson once again topped the list with 24 victories while William Leech also hit double figures with 10 wins.

Next in line was Pete Dubois with 9 wins, Angelle Carter with seven, Janice Sather and Lane Gardipy tied at six and Leonard Bourne wound up with five.

In the spring, Lyle had 32 victories to bring his year-end total to 56. Now that’s the mark of a great trainer.

The spring’s runner-up, Riley Rycroft, wasn’t around the RMTC too much in the fall, leaving the rest of the trainers with a little less pressure.

In the spring, William Leech had 10 wins and he added 10 more in the fall. Angelle had eight in the early meet and seven more this fall for a total of 15. To me one of the training wonders has to be 87-year-old Stan Marks who had four wins in the spring and duplicated that feat in the fall.

Janice Sather, who lights up any winner’s circle photo, recorded six wins this fall, one of them in the Quarter Horse Derby and two more nice paying sprints later in the fall.

And there you have it, just like baseball, all the stats are in — well, not quite with the MLB playoffs in full swing. Now we sit back and wait for next spring so everyone can rack up more stats.